Of Serpents and Dragons
by madisontaylor22
Summary: Madeline Belhook attends Hogwarts school in the same year as Harry Potter, and Draco Malfoy. Coming from a pureblood Slytherin family, Madeline becomes torn between friendship, and the pressure of owning up to her Slytherin pride. When she begins to dream of a mysterious creature, Madeline figures out that her and her destiny are more important then she had thought.Draco/OC/Harry
1. Serpents and Smiles

**Of Smiles and Snakes**

Madeline Belhook could remember her first experience with Hogwarts quite vividly. On the morning of July twenty-fifth, Madeline Belhook had woken with a start, immediately sitting up in her twin-sized bed. Her small shaggy dog lying snugly between blankets next to her perked one ear, but quickly decided there was no need for alarm, and squeezed his brown eyes shut again.

Madeline had ignored Pascal's obviously yearn for more sleep and patted his bum impatiently. "Today is the day," she had whispered excitedly, pulling off her ivory sheets and leaping from the mattress.

Pascal sighed and quickly followed his master as she bounded down the stairs, her light feet barely making a noise as they hit the bottom. She ran to the back screen door and opened it, as if awaiting someone or something to burst through. Nothing did though, and in a short wave of disappointment, she closed the door and leaned her forehead against the glass.

"You must be patient, my dear," a voice had startled from behind her.

She turned and saw her mother walking into the kitchen, a steaming mug of coffee in her right hand and her blonde hair pulled up into different colored rollers. She smiled and kissed her daughter on the top of the head and then sat down at the table.

"I _have_ been patient," Madeline reminded her, sitting down on the wooden stool next to her and patting Pascal who waited under the table. "I just had my eleventh birthday! What if I don't get accepted?" she then twisted her hands in worry and bit her lip.

Her mother chuckled. "Of course you will get accepted, my love. It won't be long now. I except within the day you will get your letter."

And her mother had been right. At promptly twelve o'clock in the afternoon, the family owl Nessa soared through the open window, dropping a sealed envelope on the kitchen table.

Madeline ran to the table, her smile so large it reached almost the tips of her hairline. Her parents watched, hand in hand, as their first and only daughter ripped open the letter and unfolded the paper inside.

"I have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" the small girl sang, her eyes twinkling.

Mr. and Mrs. Belhook pulled their dear Madeline into a deep embrace, stroking the girl's bright blonde hair and whispering congratulations into her ear.

Later that evening, the Belhooks' had decided to invite their dearest friends to a meal of festivity. Their son had also been accepted, and Madeline was very eager to share her excitement with her closest childhood friend. She had sat in her room for a long-time, staring up into the framed letter that decided the rest of her future: she was going to be an outstanding witch.

The Malfoys' had arrived at promptly six-thirty. They were never known to be late, so Madeline was already at the door, opening it and allowing the three guests inside. She had curtsied for Mr. Lucius Malfoy, shaken Mrs. Malfoy's hand lightly, and pulled their son, Draco, into a bone-crushing bear hug.

"We've made it!" she announced, as if he hadn't been aware.

"Yeah, yeah," he pushed her away and stepped further into the house. Despite his rejection, she stayed, plastered to his side, until Mrs. Belhook had ushered everyone into the dining room.

Both Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Belhook had chosen seats at the end of the long wooden table. Usually, the table only sat four, but since they were having guests, the Belhooks' had swiftly elongated the table in order to seat three more comfortably. The family house elf Rena hurried into the room, holding a jug of ice water.

She paused at Mr. Malfoy's seat and looked up, wondering whether he would like her to pour it or not.

"Well, get on with it," the man growled. Rena trembled with fear, but luckily controlled her arm enough to fill the water glass without spilling a drop on the silk-white tablecloth.

"What a wonderful occasion to celebrate," Mrs. Belhook exclaimed finally, clapping her hands together.

"Yes, very wonderful indeed," Mr. Belhook, glanced proudly at his daughter, who had done her fine hair into large curls that nestled to the tops of her shoulder.

"It was to be expected," Mr. Malfoy said distastefully. "With pureblood families like ourselves, our children are expected to get in."

Mrs. Malfoy had nodded in agreement but said nothing.

"Ah, still going on about that pureblood nonsense?" Mr. Belhook laughed, taking a swig of the wine Rena had just poured for him. "What would the magical world be, what without muggles!"

Mr. Malfoy's lip curled, but he said nothing.

The Malfoys' were not fond of muggles (non-wizarding types), and were not afraid to say so, either. The only people that could argue against their views were the Belhooks. Because Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Belhook had grown up together, both placed in the Slytherin House and lived hardly ten minutes from each other, they seemed to have an inseparable bond, despite their different views.

"Anyway," Mrs. Belhook said, to ease the tension. "Rena here has prepared the entire meal herself! Said she would be honored to serve the two newest members of Hogwarts!"

Rena would be blushing if house elves could blush. She stared down at the floor, wearing a golden dress that Mrs. Belhook had sewn for her herself.

"Finally making use of your servant, I see," Mr. Malfoy, murmured, his cold eyes narrowed at the small elf in the corner.

"Rena is not a servant," Madeline spoke up. "She is our friend."

Mr. Malfoy's eyes were so narrow that Madeline wasn't sure if they were open at all. She tensed, knowing that house elves were a touchy subject for the Malfoy's but he just took a breath and stared forward at her father.

"That was close," she whispered to Draco, sitting beside her.

"Well you shouldn't go spouting off every nonsense thing you think," he spat back.

Madeline flinched at his words but kept quiet.

The rest of dinner was peaceful. Keeping away from political and touchy subjects, Mr. Belhook drank just enough so that he started hiccupping and burping at inappropriate times. Madeline remembered when Mr. Malfoy would laugh along with him, but now, he stayed as straight-faced as ever, occasionally clearing his throat and glancing at the clock on the wall.

When dinner was finished, Mrs. Belhook helped Rena clear the plates while Madeline lead Draco upstairs to her room. She sat down against her bed and watched Draco as he absentmindedly stroked Pascal who was lying next to him.

"Something on your mind?" Madeline asked, staring past the top of Draco's head to the letter on the wall.

"What's it to you?" he snapped. Madeline shrugged her shoulders. She knew when Draco was like this; he would go to her when he was ready to talk. Finally, the boy sighed. "Father's been in his mood again," Draco admitted.

"Uh oh," she replied. "Is something wrong with work?"

"I don't know," he muttered. "I'm sure it has something to do with that rat Weasley."

"The Weasleys'?" Madeline frowned. "What do they have to do with anything?"

"That thick-headed dad of theirs is causing problems. Wants to perform house raids and such. Shouldn't give a man such as Weasley that kind of power, if you ask me," he said darkly.

"Well, after You-Know-Who…" she trailed off. Malfoy glared at her.

"We don't talk about that."

"I know."

"And then there's Potter."

"Potter?" she knew of him, of course. The boy who lived.

"Yes. He should be of age to go to Hogwarts now. Father expects they'll send him a letter this summer."

"Wow, he could be going to school, in our year?" Madeline breathed a little too excitedly.

"You're happy about that?" he demanded, his face twisting into a scowl. "Harry Potter, the hero, the famous boy who lived! He's going to special treatment, be treated like royalty…"

Madeline could tell this conversation was going nowhere but good, so she suddenly sat up and looked upon her desk. "Hang on."

She darted up and ran to her desk, opening the first drawer. Several quills were stuffed inside, along with some parchment and muggle diary books. Madeline shifted all of the trinkets on top and reached down under.

"Here," she held up two pins.

They were beautiful. Handcrafted, the pins were decorated by the serpent symbol of the Slytherin House. They were green, and underneath, written in gold, was 'Draco Malfoy' and on the other 'Madeline Belhook'. Since they were wizard items, the serpent occasionally rattled his tongue.

She sat across from Draco, cross-legged so that their knees touched. "My father had them specially made, just for us." She smiled.

He took his and traced his finger along the surface. She knew that he had let his "bossy, too-good-for-everything" façade down as he stretched his finger along the snake's body.

"Do you like it then?" Madeline pressed, her face just inches from his as he admired it.

He looked up, his normally cold eyes embracing the warmth that shone from hers. His face muscled loosened, and once for a long time to come, Draco Malfoy smiled a genuine, beautiful smile.


	2. Flashbacks and Journals

**A/N: **Thanks to everyone who read! It's been a very long time since I last posted but I haven't felt very motivated lately. I also received an anon reviewer who insulted the first chapter and called Madeline a "Mary-Sue" which sort of confused me because she's only supposed to be a little girl in the first chapter and so she hasn't even had a full character building or anything... But I will try to adjust and make sure she is less "Marry-Sue-ish" in the future.

Thanks again and please, please, review!

PS: if anyone wants to be my beta reader, please private message me :)

**The Flashback**

Madeline Belhook was not the usual Slytherin. She loved each and every House of Hogwarts, and spent most of her time hanging around Gryffindor and Hufflepuff more than her own house.

She knew the hat had sorted her into Slytherin purely because of her blood. Her father, her mother, and all of her ancestors before her had been placed into the serpent dwelling House, and Madeline was proud to carry on that bloodline, though most of the time she had trouble believing she belonged in it.

The fact that she was so warm and inviting severely bothered her best mate Draco, who now would often make jokes at her expense in order to get a laugh. She imagined this is what drew her to Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger in the first place.

They were the trio to be reckoned with. Of course Harry, being thrown into the school a full-on celebrity was enough to spark curiosity, but add genius Hermione and bold Ron; they were something of a legend.

Within her first year at Hogwarts, Madeline had tried to make it clear to the other houses that she was no Snape or Draco, and she would be happy to make friends from different houses. She and Hermione got along well enough, but it was Harry she was truly interested in. At the ends of both the first and second year, Madeline had left school in awe of his bravery against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and even against Snape, who never so much as smiled in his direction. Unless he was evilly smirking, of course.

Madeline wouldn't admit it to Malfoy of course, but she had visited Harry on the summer of their second year at his aunt and uncle's. Unbeknownst to Harry, she knocked on his door and waited patiently for the hotheaded Vernon and nosy Petunia to answer the door.

"Hello," she had said in her sweetest voice. "Is Harry here?"

"Sorry girl, no Harry here." Vernon began to close the door, but Madeline stuck her foot in between.

"Harry Potter? I'm sure he lives here. I got his address from the old school directory."

"Old school?" Vernon questioned, his bushy eyebrow rising in suspicion. "You're not from that… clown school are ya?"

"Clown school?" Madeline knotted her eyebrows in fake-confusion. "We went to elementary school together."

"That's odd," Petunia said from behind her husband. "Harry didn't have any friends in school."

"Oh, so this is his house, eh?" Madeline stepped forward, pushing Vernon aside. "Harry!" she exclaimed once they had closed the door behind her.

"Oh, this is just so exciting. I haven't seen him in years!"

Just then, a head peaked out from the top of the staircase. Madeline recognized the untidy hair almost immediately.

"Harry!" she shouted before dashing up the stairs and pulling him into a large hug. He stood stiff, and Madeline whispered, "friends from elementary school, okay?" in his ear before she let go, and he nodded in understanding.

Before they could discuss anything, Harry and Madeline strode side-by-side down the stairs until they reached where Mr. and Mrs. Dursley stood flabbergasted. Madeline had made sure to have her mum straighten her hair perfectly, and she wore a casual red dress that Rena said, "Brought out her beautiful skin tone".

"Harry," Mr. Dursley started. "I didn't- we didn't," he motioned to his wife, "know that you had a friend from elementary school."

"Yeah, I didn't either," Harry replied, side-glancing quickly at the girl at his side.

"Oh, father will be most pleased to finally meet you when he comes to pick me up tomorrow!"

"T-tomorrow?" Mrs. Dursley stuttered.

"Oh yes," Madeline said. "Father said he would be quite busy all evening and would have to pick me up in the morning."

"And who is your father?" Mr. Dursley mumbled, his eyes narrowing.

"Augustus Hume!"

"Both the Dursley's faces went deep red. "H-he's your… father?" Vernon finally spit out.

"Yes, is that a problem?"

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley both looked at each other in shock. Augustus Hume was a prominent figure whom they both admired and respected, equally.

"No, no, of course not, sweetie!" Petunia exclaimed. "You can have the guest bedroom, and I'll be making dinner for tonight."

Madeline smiled as Vernon continued to stare at her in shock, and then when he finally snapped out of it and walked towards the kitchen, Madeline took Harry's hand and pulled him upstairs and into his room.

Madeline could tell it was his room by the large, empty, owl cage standing beside the window. Other than Hedwig's cage, the room was mostly barren and empty. Madeline set down her small purse to add to the dullness of the room.

"Hello," she said finally, smiling brightly up to the still-confused boy.

"Hello," he said back.

"Your room is very… spacious," she said, running a finger along his unmade bed.

Snapping back to reality, Harry ran over to his bed and began to pull the sheets up. Madeline laughed. "You don't have to do that. I did drop by unannounced, after all."

"Speaking of which," Harry replied, sitting down on the mattress and abandoning his cleaning job. "Why?"

"Why not?" she asked pulling out his desk chair and sitting across from him. "If I were locked away from civilization all summer, I'd like some company as well."

Harry smiled. "Yeah, I guess this is a better surprise then finding out Aunt Marge is coming over tomorrow."

"Aunt Marge? Is she as terrible as Petunia?"

"She's Uncle Vernon's sister. So picture him, but fatter."

Harry and Madeline both chuckled. Harry liked the feeling of her company. For once the entire summer, he felt at ease, and her presence reminded him that shortly he would be leaving for Hogwarts again, where people actually cared about him.

"Well, I do hope I'll be leaving before she arrives," Madeline giggled. "It was hard enough putting on a show for them."

"Augustus? But your dad isn't—"

"Of course he's not," Madeline interrupted. "But that's the thing about magical folk. A little bit of potion making, and my father can be anybody he wants to be," she winked.

"So he knows about this, then?" Harry asked.

"Oh yes, he's the one who helped me practice my lines. He even told me who he wanted to be that would impress them the most. He said 'they won't turn down the daughter of Augustus Hume any day!"" Madeline stuck her finger in the air and did her best impression of her father, which wasn't very good at all.

"Your father is brilliant," Harry smiled. "Is he really going to come here tomorrow, disguised?"

"If there's anything to know about my dad it's that he never does anything half-heartedly." She shrugged and then stood up, walking to her peach-colored bag. "Oh, I almost forgot."

She walked back to her chair and sat down, rummaging through her purse. Harry wondered what she could possibly be looking for; the bag was so small it seemed barely large enough to hold anything at all.

Finally, Madeline brought out a handful of bags, all filled with different kinds of wizarding candy. Harry beamed at the sight, not even thinking about how impossible it would be to fit all that candy into one little bag.

"I brought some for you. Figured it would be a nice treat to escape from all that muggle food."

Harry eagerly grabbed a butterscotch candy from a bag and popped it into his mouth. Madeline opened a chocolate frog and quickly shoved it into her mouth before it could hop away. She glanced at the wizard card. "I swear I get Dumbledore every time!" she huffed. "You want it?"

"No thanks," Harry replied between mouthfuls of a creamy nougat bar. "I've already got like twenty of them."

And Madeline and Harry had spent the rest of the afternoon like this- eating candy and trading cards. Talking about classes and about other students and professors. Harry was surprised to learn that Madeline hated Snape almost as much as he did.

At a quarter past six, the Dursley's called Harry and Madeline down for dinner. They sat at a long table, Dudley sitting across from Madeline, eyeing her suspiciously. "I never saw you at school," Dudley sneered.

"Well I didn't hang out with your friends, I'm not surprised," Madeline stuck her nose up in the air as if offended and for once, Harry saw Aunt Petunia give Dudley a warning glare.

"It is such a delight having you here," she smiled, her eyes wrinkled with fake fascination, her hands folded under her chin.

"It is such a delight being here. Harry was one of my best friends," she glanced at Harry with sparkling green eyes.

"How nice," Mrs. Dursley remarked through tight lips.

It seemed that the Dursley's were not very interested in Harry and Madeline's relationship, just her life and family. Luckily, Madeline had done her research on her "father" and knew the answers to almost every question they prodded her with.

After Madeline had helped Mrs. Dursley clean up, they ventured back upstairs, where Mr. Dursley was busy readying Madeline's room. He bowed when it was all finished and said his goodnight, completely ignoring Harry's presence, and then walked heavily back down the stairs.

Ignoring her own room, Madeline made her way back into Harry's walking to the window and peering through.

"I would never have known they were bad people," she admitted. "Funny how people can be so… Fake."

Harry stared at the back of her head. _Like Malfoy_, he wanted to say, but he pursed his lips instead.

She turned suddenly, her face full of emotion. "I'm really glad that we're friends, Harry," she said.

He nodded awkwardly. "Me too, Madeline."

She walked a few steps towards him, and Harry felt his heartbeat quicken rapidly. Was she about to kiss him? Should he kiss her? But instead, she smiled that big smile of hers, and she leaned forward and kissed him right on the cheek instead.

"Goodnight, Harry," she whispered, smiling again before walking past him and to the guest room right next to his.

Madeline lie in bed, but she did not dare close her eyes. Instead, she stared at the alarm clock, watched the hours, and then the minutes pass by. When the red numbers on the clock said 11:58, she quickly got out of bed, grabbed her peach-colored bag, and leaned her ear against Harry's door.

She quietly opened his door, careful not to let it creak on the hinges, and pushed her way inside. Harry was lying on his side, facing away from Madeline so that she wasn't sure he was sleeping. She crept carefully across the floor and then leaned on her knees in front of her bed. Checking his clock this time, she waited until it struck midnight and then—

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!" She whisper-yelled, grabbing Harry's arm and squeezing slightly.

She didn't think he had been sleeping by the way he jumped up and looked as awake as ever. He seemed utterly shocked and reached for his glasses on the bedside table.

"Wha-?" he muttered, still not sure what was going on.

"Happy birthday!" Madeline said again.

When he finally realized what she was saying, the tips of his lips twitched into a small smile. "Thanks," he replied.

"Be excited!" she declared, jumping on the bed to sit next to him and wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

He chuckled. "This is the first time in years I've even remotely celebrated my birthday."

Madeline stared open-mouthed at him. She couldn't believe what he was saying. Surely the Dursley's celebrated Harry's _birthdays_! You'd have to be especially evil to not make any mention of the day someone was born.

"What do you mean?" she asked once she was over the shock.

"The Dursley's don't really recognize my birthday," he said shyly.

"That's terrible," she shook her head, her eyes filled with deep sympathy. "Well we have loads to make up for tonight, don't we!" she stood up suddenly and walked swiftly to the window.

"I thought I heard some wings flapping and hooting." She stood aside and in just a moment, three owls flew dramatically through the window.

Two of the owls, one being Hedwig and the other being a school owl, were carrying a third, who looked on the edge of death. The two healthy owls dropped the third into Madeline's arms and she clucked disappointedly.

"I see Ron hasn't given Errol a break." Madeline was especially interested in the care of magical animals, or any animal at all for that matter. Harry chuckled and took Ron's family owl from her and placed him in Hedwig's cage so he could get a drink.

The owls were all carrying some sort of gift for Harry. One from Ron, Hermione, and even Hagrid. For a while, Harry just stood above them and smiled. Madeline wondered if this was the first time he'd received presents.

"Well go on," she prodded. "Open them!"

One by one Harry opened his gifts. He read their letters aloud so that Madeline could laugh along as well. Once he had opened Hagrid's gift, however, the scene changed dramatically.

It was a book. A seemingly normal book, until Harry had released it from its binds. It bit and scurried along the floor, and it took the two of them to catch it. Harry jumped on top of it after Madeline trapped it in the corner, and then latched a belt to keep it still.

After the panic of the ordeal was over, they both leaned against the wall and laughed. It figured the magic world would have a book that could eat you alive.

Harry finally stood up after a few moments and moved all of his presents from his bed to his desk. He turned to look at Madeline, who by now, was also standing, her purse cradled in her arms.

"You didn't think I'd come here on your birthday without a gift, did you?" she smiled and began to rummage through her bag.

"Madeline," Harry started, shaking his head. "You don't have to."

"Of course I do!" she exclaimed, before pulling out two wrapped packages. She handed them to Harry, who took them hesitantly, but appreciatively.

Harry awkwardly began to rip off the paper from the gift on the top. After he had done so, his mouth burst into a warm smile.

The gift was a framed picture. A picture that Colin Creevey had taken last year after Harry's first Quidditch match. Since it was a wizard photo, the two people in the photo moved, and it showed Madeline racing towards Harry and pulling him into a deep embrace.

"Colin's a little stalkerish, but I liked how it turned out," she told him. "Oh, by the way, I promised him that you would eat lunch with him someday, in exchange for the picture." She winked.

"Madeline, I love it," he said, continuing to stare at the framed photo.

"Don't forget the next one," she reminded him.

He set the frame down on his dresser and then began to unwrap the second. Puzzled for a moment, he realized he was looking down at a diary. A diary quite like Tom Riddle's.

"Although Tom Riddle was an evil, despicable person, I got an idea from his diary," she explained quickly. "I know how you are, during the summers. Locked away, and not able to use magic or send letters. So, going off Riddle's idea, I had my father help me bewitch two journals." She pulled out of her bag an identical journal to the one Harry was holding.

"You see, if I write in mine, the words will transfer to yours. She walked over to his desk and pulled a quill from a side pocket on her seemingly never-ending bag. "For example," she wrote _Hello_ on the first line of her journal.

Harry opened his just in time to see _Hello_ appear on the first line of his journal. He stared, gaping at it. "Wow."

"Do you like it?" she bit her lip anxiously. "I thought it would be a good way to trick your aunt and uncle. They'll just think you're writing in an ordinary journal but in reality, you could be talking to me… And I was thinking that if you liked them, I could have my father bewitch two more for Ron and Her—"

"Madeline," he interrupted her finally. "I _love _it." Gathering up all of the courage he could, he stepped forward and pulled her into a long hug. She beamed with pride and hugged him back.

The hug seemed to last for hours, and Madeline found herself quite comfortable in the arms of the famous Harry Potter. So when he asked if she just wanted to lie in his bed and eat some of the treats they still had yet to eat, she did so immediately. And when her eyes fell heavily shut and her breathing began to even out, she dreamed only beautiful dreams and Harry did not think once of the Dursley's or even Lord Voldemort, the entire night.


End file.
